Once your firm reaches 50 full-time equivalent employees, a penalty will kick in if you fail to provide coverage for employees who average 30 or more hours a week in a given month. The penalty is $2,000 for each full-time employee in excess of 30 full-time employees. There are no penalties if part-time employees aren’t offered coverage.

A key factor in calculating the penalty is that the equation isn’t based on full-time equivalents, but rather on actual full-time employees. That means some businesses that are subject to the penalty may end up owing nothing.

Here’s a basic example: Say your firm has 25 full-time employees and 50 half-time employees that, combined, equal 25 full-time equivalents. Your firm, in effect, has 50 full-time equivalents and would be subject to the penalty if you don’t provide health-care coverage. However, your penalty cost likely would be zero because the $2,000 tally starts at the 31st full-time employee and you only have 25 full-time employees.

It’s all so very depressing. Folks can rant and rave, and boycott the companies that are going to move their employees to part-time status, but unless you’re willing to pay $40 bucks for a plain pizza pie, providing health insurance for it’s young, (and often largely) inexperienced workforce just isn’t in the business model.

Math is hard, in two senses of the word. It can be difficult to understand, and it’s also unforgiving. One unforgiving aspect of ObamaCare’s math is that it will force many businesses with low profit margins to do one or more of three things: Lay workers off, cut workers’ hours, or pass on the costs of complying with ObamaCare’s mandates onto their customers. Papa John’s pizza and Darden restaurants are looking at the adjustments each will have to make in the world of ObamaCare as far as the political eye can see, and that has liberals talking boycott.

I find this all so very interesting, because I work at a restaurant that will easily fall under the Obamacare mandate.

O-Bam-A

O-Bam-A

That’s the chant I heard on my first day back after the election. All these young kids, living on the edge, desperate for their hours and money.

The left is trying to distract us from the issue, but there is simply no way small restaurants can afford to pay the $2000 fine per employee, or the cost of their healthcare.

And, of course, these folks wouldn’t DREAM of paying for that stuff themselves – which is why hardly any restaurants offer any plans.

The place where I work watches its costs so closely, that we can’t even take out a ramekin of sour cream for a baked potato unless we’ve asked if they want it.